MARY Honeyball is a member of the European Parliament. She has been a London MEP since 2000, and this week she came out swinging against the pernicious influence of religion in politics.
I for one object to this. I do not believe Christianity should have the kind of privileged place in our public life which it so manifestly does … Faith is and should remain exactly that: a personal eccentricity, not something to be forced on others in any way whatsoever.
In an article entitled Tony Blair’s Aggressive Christianity, Honeyball also described the Catholic church as an “extreme Christian organisation”.
Mary Honeyball MEP
She said:
While churches may be emptying – people having more sense than to pay even lip service to religion – Christianity is on the increase in the corridors of power. I have seen very obvious attempts to bring Christianity into the European Parliament during my nine years as an MEP.
And she pointed out:
Silvio Berlusconi attempted to appoint an intensely religious Catholic, Rocco Buttiglione, as a European commissioner. Though his efforts were thankfully rebuffed by the majority of MEPs due to Buttiglione’s anti-homosexual and anti-abortion stance, religion had reared its head. Likewise there was a strong movement to include a reference to “god” in the ill-fated European constitutional treaty.
She added:
Meanwhile back in the UK the Roman Catholic church and other extreme Christian organisations tried to defeat parts of the 2008 human fertilisation and embryology act …
There has, in fact, been a marked increase in political lobbying by Christian organisations over the last ten years. We are getting more of it in the public square not less.
According to this report, Honeyball’s views immediately sparked outrage. German centre-right MEP Elmar Brok branded her description of the RC Church as “absolutely ridiculous”.
Wailed Brok:
Let’s be clear about this: the church plays a very important role in society, every bit as important as, say, trade unions and politicians, and that is how it should be.
Europe is based on Christian values, it is part of our European heritage and long may it continue to do so. I totally disagree with her comments. They are intolerant and shows that she understands nothing about the Catholic church.
Honeyball has also come under fire from her own party colleagues in Westminster, including MP Stephen Pound, who said:
What she does not seem to realise is that many people seek to become politicians because of their Catholicism.
North West MP Jim Dobbin was also critical, saying:
She has no place in the Labour party because she demeans the beliefs of many secularists.
What on earth would Dobbin know about the “beliefs” of secularists? He is a devout Roman Catholic who has chaired the all-party “pro-life” group, and was one of a cross-party group of MPs who, in 2007, tabled an amendment designed to ensure that homophobic Christians could continue to express their negative views of gay people.
